CHAPTER NINE / the very first night.
THEY DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I MISS YOU.
( ODETTE: I still remember where I was the first time I heard Honeycomb. I knew that they recorded it, pretty sure that they wanted to avoid me being mad at them like last time, so they all sat me down and told me. I was fucking excited for them, I remembered Eddie telling me everything that had happened─ I heard it through Romeo briefly, but it was different coming from him. It was a shitty situation so hearing they were able to go back to the studio after everything. . . I was happy for them, especially since they were given a second chance, something I didn't really believe in. [ Scoffs ] that, uh. . . That second chance really went well, didn't it Billy?
[ Waves hand ] but I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? I was out with Ivy Dane when it happened. )
"Ivy. . . Do you think that we bought too many clothes?"
She frowned. "What makes you say that?"
Instead of answering, Odette simply gestured to the mass number of bags that were sitting in the bag seat of Odette's car which wasn't counting the few boxes of shoes in the trunk.
It had been Odette's idea to go shopping. After staring at her closet for an abnormal amount of time that morning, Odette had grown tired at what she was seeing and called her up, unsurprised when she had responded happily to the offer. She did, however, underestimate how much she'd be walking away with─ not that money was an issue, never had been nor was it after Lucy's death as most of her money went to Odette─ but it was more Odette wondering if she had enough space for all of it.
But despite her concern over her friend's shopping habits, deep down she was thankful for her. Ever since New York, but also since she cut her hair, Odette felt like she needed everything to be different. It led her to moving out of Lucy's home and placing it under Romeo's name, stating that she needed less room, and he needed more since Ivy already lived with him and his two-bedroom apartment and he neither wanted to kick her out and not live with James, and when they had talked about it, she found herself moving into Romeo's apartment as a far exchange. Her clothes had been the next thing on her list; the final step in feeling like a new person.
Ivy gave her a pointed look. "You do realise not everything here is for you."
"That does not make me feel any better, you know that right?"
"It's meant to," she replied.
Odette opened her mouth to say something in response before shaking her head and starting the car. However, she didn't pull out of the carpark right away, too distracted by suddenly hearing Billy's voice of the radio. She frowned as she stared at it, hand reaching out to turn the dial up.
'Is it out of our hands?'
She grinned. "Holy fucking shit."
'Tell me, tell me, tell me, how we made it this far.'
"Wait, is this─"
"You would be very correct," she replied, unable to stop herself from smiling.
'Oh, we could make a good thing bad.'
"Who's the woman, is that Karen?"
She shook her head. "No, according to the others, Teddy pulled in a singer called Daisy Jones to work with them. It uh. . ." She laughed. "Apparently it was interesting."
Although, interesting was putting it simply. She had been told how Daisy had changed the lyrics on Billy and Billy being well, Billy, didn't take it kindly. It made Odette wished that she had been there to see Billy's reaction to the changes, as well as meet the woman she only knew by name. You would've fucking loved it, Eddie had said to her, and while they were talking over the phone, Odette knew him well enough that he was grinning. And he wasn't wrong, even hearing about it already made her want to meet Daisy Jones with a bouquet of flowers as a thank you.
But Ivy didn't question that, instead saying; "She's really good." And when Odette looked at her for a moment, she saw her smiling softly as she tapped her finger on her knee in time with the music. "I think I know Daisy Jones."
"Oh?"
She nodded. "She's gone to a few of the same parties that Romeo has dragged me to. I've never talked to her, but if she's who I'm thinking of, I can understand how it would've been interesting. I saw her push some guy in a pool once."
"Okay, but was it in a playful way? Like oh this guy is attractive, we're flirting, I joke about pushing him into the pool and he calls my bluff, so I end up doing it, that kind of way?"
"Not really? She stormed off so I assume not─ is that something you'd do?"
"The storming off?"
"No, what you said."
Odette pursed her lips. "I think it depends on the person. I never would've pulled that shit with the first guy I ever dated, he wanted me to be the perfect little girlfriend, just sit under his arm and look pretty─"
"He basically wanted you to be a trophy wife?"
She nodded. "And if we stayed together long enough to get married and have kids, I would've become my mother and someone that I wasn't. So, after I broke up with him, I became this person who was just confident all the time, being the kind of girl who wasn't afraid of being forward even if that confidence was fake sometimes. If men didn't like that, well, they'd never jokingly be threatened to be pushed into a pool. There's only one person who stuck around long enough to take the bait. So, I guess I did it, although that was more me getting push into and him being stupid enough to offer his hand out to pull me out, so I pulled him in." She waved her hand. "But, what's the difference?"
Ivy hummed. "Sounds like Eddie made quite the impression on you." She then shifted in her seat to face Odette. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Are you─ or were you in love with him? I only ask because sometimes the way you talk about him it's the same way Romeo talks about James, and you and I both know that story. You also don't have to answer that or anything. . . I'll just. . . Shut up now."
Odette frowned, because that was the question, wasn't it? She had been told by countless people─ her brother being the main one─ that she was basically in love with him; the basically implying that even if she didn't realise it, everyone else could see it. But it had been something she had never allowed herself to properly think about. Lucy had always told her that the best kind of love is when it sneaks up on you, one that you don't expect, and deep-down Odette knew that was everything to do with Eddie.
Not once had she expected to fall for him in any sort of way. Sure, she had flirted with him, but she had done the same with the others, Karen especially, it wasn't meant to be any different from that. Until it wasn't. He managed to sneak his way into her heart with his constant teasing, stupid laugh that was contagious and the way that he'd look down at her with that smile that somehow managed to put the sun the shame with how bright it was. And that wasn't even taking into consideration the way that any time he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close that made her want nothing more than to stay there for as long as he'd have her.
He felt like home.
"I do love him." She sighed. "Not that it matters now."
( INTERVIEWER: Was that the song that changed your mind about their music?
ODETTE: In a way, it was. But at the same time. . . I was someone who didn't like the fact that Billy was writing songs about Camila, always came off to me like he was trying to prove himself to her and after what happened during their first tour, that was present with Aurora. To me, if you love someone, writing songs shouldn't prove that. . . But who am I to say anything about that? Camila fucking loved it so [ shrugs ].
But Honeycomb. . . Everything I loved about it, was to do with Daisy. She's the reason why I grew to love their music because it was no longer just Billy's music with the others playing backup. It felt more like theirs. . . Even if it still wasn't in a way.
Although, it was funny how it was the song that made them, and Billy hated it. But I think he couldn't stand the fact that Daisy had taken a song that was him trying to make up for what he did and made it into something that acknowledge there were problems. We could make a good thing bad I don't know about anyone else, but it always reminded me how Billy had taken his perfect relationship and just allowed it to crack. I will give him credit for trying to fix things, but as someone who has broken a few mugs in my time to which my husband has had to fix because it was his fault, they were out of reach for me, you can't do anything to hide them and if you're not careful, they'll break again.
DAISY JONES, SINGER AND SONGWRITER: I already know that Dette is going to be waxing poetry about my lyrics [ laughs ]. Before I met her, Eddie had made a comment about how Odette would finally have one song that she'd actually love. I got curious about her.
ODETTE: Ever since they recorded with her, I desperately wanted to meet Daisy. Finally did at Billy and Camila's housewarming party. )
Odette shifted awkwardly in her seat as a means of getting comfortable, fingers tapping on the cup that she held in her hand. A shared secret between the Miller siblings were that despite the lives that they lived, both never enjoyed going to parties. Romeo had always done so as a means of keeping up appearances and playing nice with those who could make his career and avoid having anyone break it; but always did he want nothing more than to be in his bed than at one. There had once been a time when Odette had been the same, constantly being forced to attend one of her mother's parties alongside Hollywood's most famous, envying her brother who was never around because she'd rather have been anywhere but at a party. As she grew older, as long as she knew at least one person in a crowd of strangers, she was always okay.
But the difference now was that this wasn't some gathering at a bar, or some Hollywood party were both would have to act like they wanted to be here. This was Billy and Camila's housewarming party; as they sat outside, they were surrounded by friends it should've been different, especially when she was tucked sitting between Eddie and Warren who were talking around her about something, and she wasn't going to acknowledge the way she was perhaps a bit too close to Eddie, she blamed it on the alcohol. She wanted to smile at the sight of James and Ivy talking with Karen further down the yard but seeing her brother standing awkwardly next to James; Odette noticing how he was standing close to him without raising suspicious, that was enough for her to grow concerned about him.
It didn't help that people wouldn't stop staring at him and pointing in his direction as they whispered, holy shit, that's Romeo Miller. The first time that had happened and the very who had spoken had done nothing to be quiet, he hunched in on himself, only to collect himself quickly because he was Romeo fucking Miller. They both knew that it was something that couldn't be helped, especially when Lucy had warned him, and despite that, he wanted to act. He just hated a lot of the things that came hand in hand with that life and Odette felt like if he could, he would simply just disappear for months until it came time to emerge from hiding when it came time to film another movie to then disappear after. Unfortunately for him, his manager wouldn't let him do that due to his popularity.
Pulling her eyes away from her brother, she looked at Warren. "Hey, Warren, if I promise to bake you brownies with weed in them, will you go and distract Romeo?"
"Lucy's recipe?"
"Obviously, it's the only one I know."
And thankfully, that was enough for him to excitedly rush to Romeo's side. Only two seconds into the conversation did Romeo's entire posture change, no longer stiff but more relaxed in a way that let Odette know he was comfortable.
"You do realise that he only agreed because he assumes you wanted to be alone with me," Eddie commented, nudging her arm gently.
She sighed. "I think that no matter what either of us say, he'll continue to think whatever." He hummed, taking a sip from his cup, eyes scanning the party and Odette couldn't help but frown at him. "You know, you don't have to babysit me."
"Who says I am?"
"You do because you're sitting here with your ex-girlfriend instead of. . . I don't know, flirting with some girl or getting drunk and high with Warren like you usually do."
"The night's still young," Eddie replied. "Plenty of time for that later."
Odette rolled her eyes. "That's such a Romeo answer and if you were him, I'd take that as a you're never going to do it."
"Is this the part where you grow concerned with how much time I spend with you brother?"
"Do I have a reason to be worried?" She asked, eyebrows raised as she stared at him over her cup. But she barely took a sip before realizing that it was now empty. "I need more alcohol."
Without thinking, Odette patted his cheek─ the same way that she had always done when they were dating. Except this time, she did everything she could to not stroke his cheek with her thumb and didn't allow herself to focus on the way he leaned into her touch. Odette only hoped that the way she scurried away from him, hating herself for what she had done, didn't look strange.
The worst part was that it wasn't the first time it had happened. No amount of reminding herself that she no longer had a right to reach out for him like she always had done seemed to work. She was far too used to how things used to be, even when they were friends before, nothing aside from their affection growing between the two of them had changed. Being friends, she knew that things would change but she didn't realise it would mean that she no longer knew how to act around him. Hesitation with every word, keeping him at arm's length.
She fucking hated it. But it was her that wanted it. While it had been months since she relapsed, she had yet to rid herself of her mother's voice; now, it was nothing more than a whisper, just as it had always been. Yet it still wasn't good enough; she needed to make sure that the skeletons hiding in her closet had turned to dust before she could jump back into a relationship with him. And if he had already moved on by that point, Odette could live with that, no matter how much she wished things could be different.
It made her thankful that her art was keeping her busy. When she had got back from New York, she did end up listening to her brother and called that number he had given her. It was meant to be a thank you call, one that Odette had explained that she was going in another direction with her craft and could understand if it wasn't what she wanted. What she hadn't expected was for the woman, Emily Danvers had said that Odette had something special, and she'd be stupid to let Odette's talent wilt, that she'd be waiting for her call when she had something for Odette to show off. After she had hung up, Odette had stared at the phone for perhaps too long before shaking herself out of it and sketching ideas.
While the band was busy recording their second album, Odette was in her own little bubble with getting something on paper. Her nose in books about fairy tales as a means of finding inspiration before something finally did. And when it did, she constantly lost track of time with every paint stroke, only stopping when someone─ normally a rotation of Ivy, Romeo and James─ would enter her apartment with food and managing to pry her away from her work.
It had been a good excuse, but with her friends no longer recording, she had to deal with seeing Eddie more frequently. Deep down, a secret that she would never dare speak out loud, she wondered if maybe she should've just stayed in New York because maybe, it would've made everything easier.
Entering the kitchen, Odette began to rummage through the drink options, frowning at the abundance of beers that sat in coolers.
"You need some help there, gorgeous?"
Odette froze briefly, wincing at the person's words. "Nope."
"Let me guess, you're a wine kind of girl."
While she was, she wasn't going to admit that to him. "And you're the kind of guy who enjoys hitting on girls no matter how short they are with you." Odette straightened up, finally looking at the man who was baffled by her words. "It might work on other girls, but not on me."
For a moment, he looked as if he was going to say something else, but then he shook his head before leaving.
"Wow," a woman spoke up, startling Odette who didn't realise someone had been watching the interaction. "That was impressive."
Odette shrugged. "It's an artform."
"You're Odette, aren't you?"
"And you're Daisy Jones."
The red head smiled, and that was enough to let Odette know that she was right. "I am. I've heard a lot about you."
"Oh god, I am terrified to know exactly what they've told you."
Daisy laughed. "Only good things, don't worry."
"Where Warren's concerned, it's hard not to." Odette leaned against the counter. "Now that we've met, I've been dying to ask if you actually once pushed a guy into a pool."
It was clear that Daisy didn't expect that question, blinking a few times as if she were wrapping her head around what Odette had asked before laughing. Once it died down, did she finally explain the situation to Odette who was hanging onto every word.
( DAISY: I feel like a few people have already said this, but Odette was someone who you couldn't help but love when you first met her. She had this energy that was contagious. I could understand why the others adored her so much. She's one of those people who you couldn't imagine what your life would be like without her.
ODETTE: Even before I met her, I knew we were going to get along like a house in fire, and finally meeting her, I wasn't wrong. )
Once Daisy had finished speaking, Odette said, "you know, I think you and I are going to get along great if that's how you treat certain types of men."
"I'm so sorry for interrupting," Ivy spoke up, joining the two women, placing her hand gently on Odette's arm. "But I need to borrow Odette for a moment."
"Don't let me keep you from her, Ivy," Daisy replied, shooting her a smile before walking away.
When Odette turned to look at Ivy, she bit back a smile at how Ivy was suddenly distracted by Daisy, only looking away when Daisy disappeared outside.
"I get it."
Ivy titled her head in confusion. "What?"
"She's stunning with a personality that would have anyone on their knees, I get it."
"That─ I don't─ I have no idea what you're talking about."
Odette nodded slowly. "Alright then." But the conversation was far from over. "So, what did you want?"
Without saying anything, Ivy just grabbed Odette by the hand and dragged her upstairs, weaving through the sea of people. While Ivy dodged every person they passed, Odette allowed herself to bump into anyone who was standing in the middle of the hallway. When they reached the bathroom, Ivy shoved her into the room before shutting the door. Only when the light was turned on did Odette say something.
"Listen, Ivy, if you want to make out with me─"
"That is not what we're doing."
"But we're in a bathroom?"
"Do you normally make out with someone in a bathroom?"
"Sometimes I did with Eddie, before the others knew about our relationship─ although I think everyone, but Warren knew what we were doing, and I guess Billy considering we broke up before he got out of rehab," Odette explained before shaking her head. "Why are we here then?"
"You know how Romeo was going to make a move on James when he moved here?"
"Wait, he still hasn't?"
Ivy shook her head. "No, and it's been driving me insane. It's worse living with them. Do you know how many times one will look at the other and when caught they just duck their head down and act like they are blushing? Worst part is that the other is still blind."
"James is extremely obvious but Romeo is too much in denial to notice."
Leaning against the bathroom sink, Ivy sighed. "We need an intervention."
"We could do that, or you could just outright tell them they need to fuck to get rid of all that built up tension between them."
Ivy looked horrified at the suggestion before her expression shifted as she thought over the idea. "Well, I think we should reword it a little, but I think it should work. Are we sure we should do it tonight though?"
"You can stay with me tonight if you're that worried, and we can always call a cab to get home."
"I'll probably take you up on that offer. Should you talk to them, or should I?"
"You should because they won't expect you to say something."
Ivy nodded as she stood up straight. "Alright, well wish me luck."
"Threaten to cut their hair if you need to," Odette called out as Ivy left the bathroom.
Odette didn't waste any time heading downstairs herself. Not bothering to grab another drink which had been the entire reason she went inside in the first time. But she was far too occupied with trying to look for where Ivy had run off to, that she found herself walking straight into someone.
When their hands went to her waist as a means of keeping her balanced, she went to go and push them away, but when she looked up and realized it was Eddie, she couldn't help but grow comfortable in his hold. When he didn't let go of her, she didn't bother dropping her hands from where she held onto his biceps.
Odette knew that there was nothing friendly about their situation. Friends would've moved away from each other, one more step─ one tiny little step and they'd be chest to chest. A friend wouldn't graze his thumb against his friend's skin from where it peaked out from her cropped shirt and high waisted skirt, the tiniest patch of skin and the contact left behind goosebumps in its wake. A friend wouldn't look down at his lips in what she deemed a moment of weakness. Friends wouldn't have lingered in that position, and when they finally pulled apart, their cheeks wouldn't have moved away with matching blushes dusting their cheeks and a sudden inability to look each other in the eye.
"I, uh─" Eddie cleared his throat. "I thought you fell into one of the coolers and needed someone to fish you out."
"Do you even know how to fish?" She found herself asking, trying to get rid of any tension that remained between them.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he titled his head to the side. "Do I look like I can fish?"
"Can you?"
"I'm not even going to answer that."
"I'm going to take that as yes."
Eddie shook his head, but when he ducked his head down, Odette saw him smiling. She couldn't help but poke his cheek until he grabbed hold of her wrist, putting a stop to it.
"You're a menace," he told her, dropping his hand to his side and with it, he let go of Odette.
When the lights suddenly turned off, Odette pulled herself into Eddie's orbit, hand reaching for his without any hesitation behind the action. Realising what she had done, she went to let go, but as his fingers intertwined with hers, she found herself staying.
"Nothing like a good old Californian outage, huh, O?" Her brother commented as he, along with James and Ivy joined the pair.
It was enough for Eddie and Odette to let go of each other and move away as if they had been burned.
Eddie cleared his throat. "I'm going to, uh, help with the candles," he stated, barely giving anyone anytime to say anything before he was gone.
"We interrupted something didn't we?" Romeo asked, genuinely sounding guilty for doing so.
She didn't answer, instead turning to Ivy. "Did the plan work?"
"Oh, so it was your brilliant plan to set Ivy on us─"
"And we thank you very much for it, now if you'll excuse us, we're going to be heading off," James interrupted, ringed hand covering Romeo's mouth.
Odette smiled. "I'll let the others know that you wanting to make a discrete exit."
James winked at her as he finally removed his hand from Romeo's mouth, and if he slipped his hand into Romeo's, hands instantly intertwined, well, that wasn't something Odette was going to bring attention to. Where most would've gone out the front door, both men went back outside to leave through the gate as a means of going unseen, no longer holding hands but with their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders, it was close enough without anyone questioning anything.
"They're going to be even more insufferable now," Ivy admitted.
"Would you prefer them dancing around each other?"
"Fuck no," she replied, and Odette burst out into laughter hearing her curse.
The sound of Karen playing the piano was what brought them inside, Odette holding onto Ivy as she pushed her way to the front of the small crowd who were watching on as the band began to play their respected instruments─ Odette wasn't going to question where Warren found bongos─ and singing Ooh La La by The Faces. Yet the second she was in front, once Daisy saw her, she grabbed her by the hand to dance with her. She could hear her friends cheering her on and Odette could only laugh as she got swept up in the moment.
It brought her back to a simpler time, before the breakup, before Lucy's death, before everything turned to ashes in her hands. Desperately, she wished that things could go back to how things were back then. But life wasn't like that, where you could turn a dial and change the past.
That was something she felt grow within her as she looked over Eddie, finding him already looking at her with that smile that had her weak in the knees and if things were different, she'd kiss him senseless.
But she couldn't do that anymore, something Odette just to live with, even if she no longer could stand to be around him. Even if by the time she was finally ready to be all that he could ask for, he had moved on just as he had promised her. It was just as he had said, I'd rather have you in my life than not at all. She could do that, even if it meant keeping him at arm's length until she was ready, or perhaps let it remain that way if she was too late.
AUTHOR'S NOTE 🎸 / first thing's first, i may have added some fancy lil moodboards to the soundtrack section of this fic (previously they were on the graphics section but i moved them because they worked better where they are now). one is an odette one while the other is a summertree one if you wanna have a little look.
🎸 okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way. you don't know how fucking happy i am that daisy and odette have finally met!!! odette is one hundred percent a girl's girl and basically is daisy's biggest fan due to her not letting billy walk all over her and it being ages before they met was driving me insane. admittedly, i do lowkey ship them, but i also lowkey ship odette with every woman that she interacts with so does that really mean anything????
🎸 i have to admit, this chapter fucking killed me, and the funny thing is, is that you all aren't even reading what did because somehow, this chapter did a complete left turn into angst-ville and after a point i said "absolutely not" and now we have this (which is probably why the ending is a bit meh, i had no idea how to end it). although, i did hate writing eddie and odette failing to be just friends because they haven't really been friends since chapter two, they don't know how to do anything without there being romantic subtext in everything they do.
🎸 anyways, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter. don't forget to vote/comment, let me know your thoughts!